{"id":481490,"date":"2026-01-08T09:59:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T14:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=481490"},"modified":"2026-01-08T09:59:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T14:59:06","slug":"nhl-predictions-toronto-maple-leafs-philadelphia-flyers-january-8th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/01\/08\/nhl-predictions-toronto-maple-leafs-philadelphia-flyers-january-8th\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: January 8th Toronto Maple Leafs vs Philadelphia Flyers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another NHL Predictions. Each day, here at\u00a0Last Word on Hockey<\/em>, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for NHL games. For this edition, we will look at the Toronto Maple Leafs facing off against the Philadelphia Flyers.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions: Toronto Maple Leafs vs Philadelphia Flyers<\/h2>\n

2025-26 Season Series:<\/strong> 1-0 Maple Leafs<\/p>\n

How to Watch:<\/a><\/strong> NBC Sports Philadelphia, TSN4, TVAS, TVAS+, ESPN+, SN+<\/h3>\n

Time:<\/strong> 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/p>\n

Location:<\/strong> Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania<\/p>\n

Maple Leafs’ Storylines<\/h3>\n

A few weeks ago, it felt like things were reaching a breaking point for the Leafs. With just one game remaining before the holiday break, Toronto had lost three straight games and six of the last eight.<\/p>\n

They claimed a win over Pittsburgh to go into the break, then came back with six straight games with points, including four wins. A lot of this 5-0-2 stretch coincides with the current hot streak for Auston Matthews<\/a>. Matthews has seven goals and 11 points in his last five games.<\/p>\n

\n

422!!@OREO<\/a> | #LeafsForever<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/xxJOCMj4Sn<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) January 7, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

John Tavares<\/a> and Matthew Knies<\/a> have five points each in their last five games, certainly helping the cause with William Nylander<\/a> on IR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Flyers’ Storylines<\/h3>\n

You won’t find many more emotionally-charged victories like the one the Flyers got on Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks. A playoff atmosphere was on full display as Trevor Zegras<\/a> put on a show against his former team in a 5-2 victory.<\/p>\n

\n

SAME SPOT. SAME GOAL. SAME TREVOR ZEGRAS!!<\/p>\n

He’s on hatty watch! pic.twitter.com\/7LuqjzpdOM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NHL (@NHL) January 7, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The win came at a cost, though. The Flyers were already without Matvei Michkov<\/a> in Tuesday’s game, and lost Bobby Brink<\/a> and Jamie Drysdale<\/a> in the physicality of the game. Michkov is an option for the Flyers for Thursday’s game against Toronto, but it seems doubtful that either Brink or Drysdale is back.<\/p>\n

Despite the injury news, the Flyers have started 2026 off with a bang, a pair of 5-2 wins over Edmonton and Anaheim to move to 22-12-7 at the halfway point of the season. Their depth will be tested, and there are some challenging games ahead, but the playoff chase is alive and well at the moment.<\/p>\n

Predictions and Best Bets<\/h3>\n

Prediction: Maple Leafs 4, Flyers 3 (OT)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Both teams come in with recent success, which should make this a close game. Toronto still possesses more star power, and that may be the difference. Matthews playing a bigger factor and riding a hot streak could be the difference here, so we’ll give the edge to the Leafs in this one.<\/p>\n

For best bets for the Leafs, expect Matthews to continue his points streak. His ability to take over a game has been on full display lately, and with the Flyers preparing to be short-handed, Matthews should be able to find time and space to be dangerous. His line is set at -235 to score at least one point, and -105 for an anytime goal scorer.<\/p>\n

For the Flyers, take Travis Sanheim to record at least one point in this one. The Olympian for Team Canada<\/a> has goals in back-to-back games and continues to impress in his role with the Flyers.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another NHL Predictions. Each day, here at\u00a0Last Word on Hockey, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for NHL games. For this edition, we will look at the Toronto Maple Leafs facing off against the Philadelphia Flyers. NHL Predictions: Toronto Maple Leafs vs Philadelphia Flyers 2025-26 Season Series: 1-0 Maple Leafs How […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5734,"featured_media":481560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4547,4548,16,4524,18],"tags":[6082,6062],"class_list":["post-481490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-flyers","category-nhl-predictions","category-leafs","tag-philadelphia-flyers-predictions","tag-toronto-maple-leafs-predictions"],"modified_by":"Colton Osmond, Dept Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5734"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481490"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":481564,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481490\/revisions\/481564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}